PDP-BJP government collapses in Jammu and Kashmir: Here's how political parties reacted

Pic courtesy: PTI (File photo)

New Delhi/Srinagar: The three-year Jammu and Kashmir government collapsed on Tuesday with the BJP pulling out of its alliance with the PDP setting the stage for yet another round of Governor's rule. BJP general secretary Ram Madhav made the surprise announcement after the party high command summoned its J&K ministers for emergency consultations in New Delhi. A few hours later, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti submitted her resignation to Governor NN Vohra amid a swirl of political activity in Srinagar and New Delhi. "It has become untenable for the BJP to continue in the alliance government in the state," Madhav told reporters at a press conference. 

Following are some of the reactions by various political parties:

- National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said his party would not stake claim to form the government in the state since it did not have the mandate. "I have met the Governor just now. I told him that the NC did not have the mandate in 2014 nor it has in 2018. We are not in talks with anyone to form the government. Nobody has approached us. We are also not going to approach anyone. There is no option left but to impose the Governor's rule in the state. We have requested the Governor to hold an early election so people can decide who they want to bring to power in the state," he said 

- Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the BJP had committed a "Himalayan blunder" by forming a government with the PDP. He added that the BJP, a national party, should not have allied with PDP, a regional player. "The regional parties should have been allowed to form an alliance among themselves," Azad told reporters. 

- Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted:

The opportunistic BJP-PDP alliance set fire to J&K, killing many innocent people including our brave soldiers. It cost India strategically & destroyed years of UPA’s hard work. The damage will continue under President’s rule. Incompetence, arrogance & hatred always fails. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 19, 2018

- Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal tweeted:

Didn’t BJP tell us that demonetisation had broken the back of terrorism in Kashmir? Then what happened? https://t.co/S9nyOMocKl — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 19, 2018

3 years lost in the valley,

3 years that saw huge civilian & army casualties,

3 years later the valley is worse-off from where it stood then.

This is what happens when you put politics over people.

I will not allow Delhi to suffer because of dirty politics of Modi Govt — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 19, 2018

- The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said the saffron party took the decision in a bid to "save" itself from the "governance failures" of the last three years. "The four-year-old BJP rule at the Centre and the three-year-old coalition of the BJP and PDP in J&K has been an utter failure. The BJP's decision to pull out (of the coalition government in J&K) is a bid to save itself from the governance failures of the last three years," alleged NCP national spokesman Nawab Malik.

- The Left parties said that the coming together of the BJP and the PDP after the J&K Assembly polls in 2014 to form the government was itself "opportunistic". "Such coalition should not have happened. These two parties have no similarities. They coming together was an opportunistic move to be in power," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said. 

"The situation in J&K had been deteriorating ever since the BJP-PDP coalition came to power. The present situation is worrisome. The Home Minister recently visited the state and met the CM and the state authorities. He was giving positive signals regarding peace in the Valley. What is the assessment of the Central government nobody knows. The government could have called an all-party meeting and shared its assessment," CPI leader D Raja said. 

The BJP won 25 seats and the PDP 28 in the 87-member Assembly and came together in an alliance, two months after the December 2014 elections. The NC has 15 seats, the Congress 12 and others seven. 

(With PTI inputs)